The present invention relates generally to umbrellas, and more specifically to an inwardly folding umbrella that includes mechanical means for reversing the directional folding pattern common to most commercially available umbrellas.
Umbrellas are common, commercially available items used by many people to protect themselves from rain, and in some cases from the sun. Although basically effective for their intended purpose, umbrellas are not entirely problem-free devices. For example, when a user of an umbrella enters an automobile, the user must close the umbrella as he or she sits down on one of the seats in the car. Upon closing the umbrella, water that has accumulated on the canopy is, unfortunately and undesirably, often directed off the canopy and onto the user. Because getting wet in this manner is contrary to the purpose for using the umbrella in the first place, there is an ongoing need for an umbrella that may be closed in a manner that directs water away from, rather than toward, the user thereof.